A continuing story.........

(Okay, hiama, back to the action....)

Tammy Rosenthal, Satsenpfeffer's new secretary, shows Gerald into the third senior vice-president's office. "Here he is, gentlemen," she says, and then giggles. Tammy was expecting a floral arrangement when she heard "Flowers" summoned to the office.

"Thanks, Tam..uh, Ms. Rosenthal," Heronimus says, clearing his throat. Looking longingly at her legs, he wished she would wear those boots every day.

Satsenpfeffer turns to Gerald and motions for him to take the empty chair between Missy and Hiama. "Flowers, these people would like a tour of the maintenance bay. Will you show them around?"

"Certainly," Gerald says in his typical monotone. "If you'll follow me..."

Nussbaum, Hiama and Missy follow Gerald to the helicopter maintenance facilities and are given visitor badges. Hiama pretends he doesn't understand how to attach the badge and reaches over to check Gerald's badge, deftly planting a tracking bug on the back.

Flowers, unaware that he has been bugged, gives them the standard tour. Missy notices there are several "off-limits" areas in the maintenance bay and excuses herself to go to the ladies' room. Ducking around a corner, she pulls out the microcamera Nussbaum has given her. It resembles an ordinary writing pen. Once Flowers and the group are out of sight, she begins clicking the pen, snapping photos of the protected areas...

(Nice work Viz and those legs aint bad either)

Hiama, Nussbaum and Missy return to Satsenpfeffer's orifice and realising their mistake before anything untoward happens go next door to his office. " Well that's a good job, Haima, all we need do now is wait until the hooter goes and follow Flowers wherver he goes at a discreet distance "

The 5 pm hooter goes and the twilight shift start coming in as the day shift leave their machines. After 20 minutes scrub up and security checks on the way out Flowers is soon heading out of Amarillo heading out on Interstate 27 towards Lubbock. He drives as far as Plainsview and pulls into the Ramada on Olton Road.

Hiama enters the Ramada and sees Flowers sign the book and that he is given the key to Room 131, hiama waits for flowers to go to his room and he then goes up to the desk clerk, once Flowers has gone to his room and whilst asking for room rates notices he has signed the book as Mr Kleberman.

Meanwhile ........

realjohnboy here...hi: I've had some computer problems but am now back. It's great to be back! I haven't read your most recent updates yet; looks like we could use some new blood (as in new posters vs killing off characters). Where did everyone go? -rjb-

Good question! I will write another entry, then it's your turn, okay?

Diane LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Meanwhile back in the Ramada, Kleberman or Flowers or whatever his damn name is speaking to someone on his cell phone (In the UK we say mobile but in the interests of entente or blackcurrant cordiale I'll use cell phone here) " I just left the plant and there's some guys sneaking around there I don't trust, I think that the game might be up ", the party on the other line has a thick Eastern european accent and goes by the name of Melvin Kaminsky " Vell we hod better get the stuff out out of there, call a meeting of ze team tonight and ring me from the usual place".

Kaminsky puts down the phone and turns to his henchwoman Stefdnia Zofija Federkiewicz " We may have to move Blue October up 2 weeks, have we everything in place ? "

Stef looks out of the window overlooking the Kremlin and pouts the way only a russian woman can pout " Every day some misfortune befalls me. But I don't complain. I'm used to it, and I wear a smiling face! Of course we can move it up, its what we do isn't it ? "

Meanwhile back at the Ramada Flowers is setting up the meeting of the team for that evening, they'll meet at the disused hangar just outside Amarillo and get their plan together for evacuating all the equipment before the balloon goes up on the operation, Kleberman has the distinct feeling that he was followed from the plant, he'll have to be very careful.

Diane, that was GREAT! You have GWB down pat. You will have to bring him back into the storyline somehow!


As Flowers pulls out of the motel parking lot, he chunks his "Kleberman" drivers license into the glove compartment. It's a lot of work, traveling under aliases, he thinks, but it's necessary.

There is that same white Miata, parked across the lot. Still following him, he notes. Three passengers--one attractive young female, two middle-aged males. All dressed too well to be at a roadside motel for the usual reasons. Flowers pulls out onto the highway, and waits to see if the Miata will follow. The Miata allows three cars to pass, then approaches the on-ramp. Flowers spots them in his rear-view mirror. Typical CIA procedure, he thinks. They always leave three cars in between. They never change, he laughs.

Calling "Kaminsky" on the mobile, Flowers gives him the Miata's make, model and tag number. "Kaminsky" hangs up, then calls back five minutes later with an ID on the passengers. Flowers writes down all the information while driving with his left hand. He has become quite proficient at this.

"Do you think he's spotted us?" Missy asks Hiama, who is driving her car. "Nah, I'm sure he hasn't," Hiama replies.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Nussbaum says. "These Defense Dep't. guys are pretty well-trained. Not as well as CIA, though," he adds, telling Hiama to drop behind a semi-trailer truck in the other lane for a few minutes.

Hiama does so. Five minutes later, he pulls back into the clear and spots Flowers' older BMW sedan still three cars ahead.

Flowers is on the phone again to "Kaminsky." "Yep, they're still there. I'll just keep driving back to the office. I bet they'll try following me to our meeting tonight, though. Shall I let them?"

"Yah," "Kaminsky" says in his strangely sporadic accent. "Ve vill haf a surprise vaiting for them"...

Meanwhile, General Mander packs his briefcase and heads for the meeting in Amarillo. He was surprised to have gotten a call from Flowers. Underlings didn't usually have his private number. Why hadn't "Kaminsky" called him as usual?...

okay, so we've played around with writing action, which y'all are very good at. And we have had some fun with the notion of writing descriptively-y'all have gotten better at that.
The problem that I am having with the current story is that I really don't give a sh*t about any of the characters from the last couple of pages. They seem to be one-dimensional, as if pulled from a comic book.
I'd like to introduce a new character: "E."
Can I tell y'all about "E"?
"E" could fit into the existing story later. -rjb-

Certainly! But I do hope "E" has a whole name!
Might I suggest...we have given some depth to the characters of Candy, Sylvia and Blossom. A few of the male characters could really use some "fleshing-out"...esp. Gerald (what led him to work as an agent soon after college, what's it like leading a double life, how will he interact with Sylvia now that she has returned, etc...) Could you give it a try??

Goooooood night! You guys have been busy. I'll have to take a minute to read up.............. sheesh!

Time for a little sex interest.


Kissing her mother good bye, Silvia promises to call.

"Come on Nick," says Sylvia. "Let's go..........we need to make some time before stopping for the night."

"ah" Nick says, quietly but quickly heading out the door. Opening up the door of the Jimmy for Sylvia and for the first time noticing the slit in her skirt that runs all the way up to her fancy. Heading out of town on the highway Sylvia rolls another one just like the other one and they settle in for the long ride into the setting western sun. She's still got no luggage, he thinks to himself but he has no idea what that could mean. Is she taking me for a ride? But then, he thinks, well even if she is, its bound to be a comfortable ride. Is the next stop Roswell or is it Clovis? Nick doesn't care anymore, its all just down the road and thats where Nick is heading. Just down the road.

Sylvia settles back and inhales................."ummmm, isn't the sunset beautiful, Nick?"

Candy dabs at her eyes with a Kleenex for a full hour after Sylvia leaves. Then she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the folded slip of paper Sylvia gave her during their goodbye embrace. She hadn't thought to open it at the time - she only wanted to look at her baby for as long as possible - but now she wonders what it says.

It is Sylvia's cell phone number.

Candy's relief is enormous. She may not know where Sylvia is going, but at least she will know how to reach her now. Fresh tears cascade down Candy's cheeks as she turns to go upstairs to check on her other children. "Now, where is Blossom?" she wonders. "I do hope Freddie hasn't been tormenting her with that lizard again."

Just then, she hears a car door shut. It is Gerald, home from the office. "Uh huh, 5:23 p.m., right on the nose," Candy thinks to herself, checking her watch. "He is always so punctual."

"What you crying at woman ? ", Gerald grunts at Candy as he pushes the screen door shut.

I need my supper on the table , me and some of the boys are going out for a beer tonight and I'll be back late.

He goes to wash up as Candy sets the table and gets the meat loaf out of the Aga.

Candy has dried her tears and says to herself that one day she will leave him, she deserves better than this pig of a man, who only knows how to drink, eat and hurt her as he uses her for his own animal needs. She has taken to a double helping of sleeping pills with a stiff drink every night, at least it deadens the sensation if he forces himself on her. She thinks about the rat poison that he got last fall to clean out the outbuildings of vermin, she thinks and she thinks and she.....just then the phone rings and its for him...she shouts upstairs...

"Gerald, its for you, some guy with a foreign accent ......."

(ooh, he's goin' down!)

Hi...I came home this evening expecting to have to apologize for my last post that was critical of the way this story was headed...and my pompous recommendation about developing characters.
Ha! Didn't have to do it.

"E" is a great character. I have been thinking about "E" for several days. The introductory scene is, well, descriptive as hell. But "E" will be put on a shelf for awhile.

I'm going to try to do Gerald, but I'm not sure I can remember who he is. -rjb-

Blossom is looking out her upstairs bedroom window. She's feeling sad and doesn't really know why. Her sister stopped by for a visit and now her mother is crying in the kitchen.

"Oh well," thinks Blossom. "I'll call Henrietta about the dance tomorrow night."

"Hello Henry?" says Blossom, "what are you wearing to the dance tomorrow night? I can't wait to see who wins the contest for king and queen of the dance. I hope it's not Nancy. She's such a flirt. Did you see her flaunting herself all around the halls today? She's flirting brazenly with Sam while she's going out with Billy, but going steady with Harry and seducing the poor substitute teacher for Chemistry class, Mr. Purdy. Mr. Long can hardly stay in his office when she comes in for student guide, you'd think she had a magic spell over him."

"Oh, I know," says Henrietta. "She makes me sick. But she doesn't have a single enemy with the guys. Whenever she walks by, they all start drooling."

"It's a good thing she's so stupid," says Blossom. "If she had a brain in her head, she'd be dangerous. Richard, at least doesn't seem to be affected. Poor Richard, I don't think he knows anything about what makes the world go round.................."

dammit, Hiama, I had Gerald pretty much fleshed out in my mind but now you've turned him into a red-neck lout. Back to the drawing board. -rjb-

Don't worry about it, rjb. Gerald's gonna die anyway.